In a principal aspect, the invention relates to an improvement in locking systems for drawer support slides of the type used for drawers, particularly drawers that may contain electronic and industrial equipment.
Drawer support slides designed for use with drawers of a cabinet or for a slidable computer support platform desirably enable the drawer or platform to be locked in the extended or fully open position by means of a locking system incorporated in the slide. Prior art slides which utilize locking or latch mechanisms for locking telescoping drawer slide channels in the open or extended position could endanger the operator's fingers whilst the operator attempts to manually unlock the mechanism to permit drawer closure.
A design solution for this problem incorporates an actuator for release of the locking mechanism located at the front of the outermost extended drawer channel or slide element, clear of interfacing channels and the channel locking mechanism with its potential finger pinch points. Typical solutions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,891 B1; U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,290 B1; U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,899 B1; and U.S. Publication U.S. 2002/0021061 A1, all incorporated herein by reference. Such prior art release mechanisms accomplish this objective, but risk override of travel stop features, since lock and disconnect functions are combined in a single latch mechanism release lever.